From the Rector's Desk:

New Year 2020
(Jan 1, 2020)

It's easy to see how 20-20 vision and the new year 2020 echo each other. What is not so easy to see is what the Lord is doing at this time in history or in our own lives.

The Rev. George Matheson (1842-1906), Scottish minister, penned the well-loved hymn, "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go" on the evening of his eldest sister's wedding. But there is more to the story. George displayed strong academic ability, finishing first in classics, logic, and philosophy from University of Glasgow. This was all the more remarkable because he was going blind. By age 20, he could see only shadows and light. He nevertheless continued his preparation for the ministry and became known as "the blind preacher."

His loss of sight made him heavily dependent on others, especially his eldest sister. Now with her marriage, his sense of aloneness keen. The wedding also reawakened an old pang: the memory of his fiancée breaking their engagement due to his growing blindness. It was indeed a dark night of the heart.

Yet, as has often happened, the grace of God birthed through this suffering a great and deep beauty. In the space of five minutes' time, he wrote the words to "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go."

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

In these times and in our lives, darknesses may frustrate and confuse us. Doesn't God know? Can't he see? Why doesn't he do something? Yet there, surprisingly, is the One who never leaves or forsakes his own. He was there all along for he cannot let us go.
 
May Christ who is Light lead and guide us all in the new year.
In Christ who is our hope,
Jim +
Amazing Ascension
(May 29, 2019)

This more contemporary depiction of The Ascension captures the account given in Acts:

"as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." (Acts 1:9-11 ESV)

The disciples are stunned at what they are seeing and hearing. Just before these words, Jesus has given them the command to take the Gospel into all the world. And now they are watching him leave. This doesn't seem right.

But there is a Scene II to this drama: the Holy Spirit will come.

So often in our life in Christ, he calls us to something far beyond our abilities, then, just as when it seems that he is absent, the Lord by his Spirit shows up in a remarkable way.

Christ is ascended, but he is not inattentive. He is at work in and through his people to bring about his good will and pleasure by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As Jesus said, "it is a good thing that I go away...", because the Holy Spirit came to carry out the work of God through the people of God. Alleluia!
 
God bless you as you rejoice in the Ascended Christ tomorrow.
Jim +
"Come On In, The Fire's Fine!"
A Call to Deeper Discipleship and Contagious Faith

If we look seriously at the Scriptures, and if we're honest, we hear a lot of awfully challenging things! We're tempted, like Jesus' disciples, to turn away to an easier path. But like his first disciples, we find that no one else has "words of eternal life."

People's last words often summarize what they most earnestly desire. Jesus' final instructions to his disciples add to the challenges of following him: Go make more disciples! This makes most of us squirm.

Begun as lessons learned in facing the daunting task of inspiring her own children's faith, the principles Marcia Lebhar will share apply to disciples at every stage of life. Come join us for a day of encouragement... encouragement to persevere and go deeper in our own relationships with God, and a look at some ways our faith can become contagious.